Letter-box.



A. H. EWiNG.

LETTER BOX.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a. 1915.

Pzitented May 29, 1917.

INVENTOR M H BY M #19 A TTOR/VEYS ALICE H. EWING, or SALT'LAKE CITY,UTAH.

LETTER-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 191 '7.

Application filed February 9, 1915. Serial No. 7,107.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALICE H. EWING, of Salt Lake City, in the county ofSalt Lake, and in the State of Utah, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Letter-Boxes, and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to mail boxes in general, in which letters,parcels, etc., are to be inserted.

The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus in which, when aletter or parcel is inserted in the letter box, the person for Whom thesame is intended, when located at a distance fromthe mail box, may beadvised of this fact, so thatit will not be necessary for the person togo to the mail box, except in the case where he learns that a letter orparcel has been deposited in the same. Another object of my invention isto provide a mail box of this character which will indicate for anindefinite period of time the presence of. the letter or parcel in thebox when once it has been inserted therein. A further object of myinvention is to provide an apparatus of this character in which when aletter or parcel is withdrawn from the letter box by the person for whomit is intended, the apparatus will be reset so as to no longer indicatethe presence of any article of mail in the box. Another object is toprovide a construction of this kind in which the parts are operatedelectrically, but in which only a small amount of current is consumed sothat the apparatus may be used for a very longperiod of time without thenecessity of replacing any of the parts.

While my invention is capable of embodiment in many different forms, forthe purpose of illustration I have shown only one form thereof in theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation w1th parts broken away of an apparatusmade in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4c4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings I have shown a letter box 1, having a door 2 for theremoval of the mail having a lock 3 thereon. The

as to move the rocker arm 11.

letter box 1 has furthermore a slot 4 for the insertion of mail in thebox, which slot is normally closedby an inner hinged door 5. A spring 6on the inner door 5 normally maintams said door in its closed position.Upon the rear of said door 5, there is a bear; mg 7 to receive a pivotedpush rod 8, one end of which is bent over and received within thebearing 7, so as to pivotally connect the rod 8 to the door 5. A stop 9is located adjacent to the rod 8 so as to prevent the same from beingwithdrawn from the bearing 7. The other end of the rod 8 passes throughan eyelet 10 on a rocker arm 11, pivotally supported upon a bracket 12attached to the inner face of the letter box 1. On said rod 8 there isfurthermore a stop 13 so that when the door 5 is moved inwardly the stop13 cooperates with the eyelet 10, so A spring 14 is attached to a hook15 on the rocker arm 11, and said spring is attached at its other end toa hook 16 located on the bracket 12. The hook 15 is located immediatelyover the pivot of the rocker arm 11, so that said spring operates toretain the rocker arm 11 at either side of the pivot to which it ismoved by the operating mechanism in the letter box.

.When the rocker arm 11 is moved in the direction of the push rod 8, theend of the arm rests upon a stop 17 attached to the bracket 12, and whenthe rocker arm 11 is moved to the other side of the pivot, the other endof the rocker arm comes in contact with a screw 18 which is supportedupon an insulating block 19, which is supported from the bracket 12 by ascrew 20. 1 In approximately the center of the rocker arm 11, there is aslot 21 which receives one end of a push rod 22. The other end of thispush rod 22 is pivoted to a lever arm 23 carried in a vertical journalbearing 24 in the corner of the letter box. The lever arm 23 is extendeddown through the vertical journal bearing 24;, and beyond the lower endof the same is bent in a horizontal direction to produce a curved end25, which is received in an eyelet 26 attached to the inner face of thedoor 2. A battery 27 supported in any suitable location in any desiredmanner, provides current for an electric circuit by having one terminal28 thereof connected by a wire 29 and a metallic strip 29 to the letterbox 1. The other terminal 30 of the battery 27 is connected by a wire 31to a push butneighborhood the push ton 32 located at some convenientpoint for the addressee of the letters, etc., to be inserted in theletter box 1, as for example, in an apartment at a distance from theletter box 1, which may be located at the entrance of the apartmenthouse. This push button 32 is connected by a wire 33 to an electriclight 34L, preferably located adjacent to the push button, whichelectric light is in turn connected by a wire 35 to the screw 18.

In the operation of my invention, it will be assumed that the parts arein such position that the rocker arm 11 is supported by the stop 17.Inthis position of the parts, the circuit including the battery, 27, thepush button 32 and the electric light 34 is broken at the letter box 1.If new a letter or other article of mail is inserted in theletter boxthrough the slot l, the inner door 5 is moved so that the stop 13 on thepush rod 8 comes into contact with the eyelet 10 on the rocker arm 11,thereby moving the rocker arm 11 into its other position, that is tosay, with the other arm of the rocker arm 11 supported by the screw 18.As soon as the rocker arm is moved into this position, it completes theelectric circuit at the letter box 1. The electric circuit is now,therefore, closed except at the push button 32. hen the addressee of theletters in whose button 32 and electric light 3st are located, wishes tofind out whether or not any article of mail has been deposited for himin the letter box 1, it is merely necessary for him to operate the pushbutton 32, whereupon if an article of mail has been inserted in the box1, the electric light will be lighted, and if, on the contrary, noarticle of mail has been inserted in the box 1, the electric light 34will not be lighted when the push button 32 is operated. \Vhen anyarticle of mail has been inserted in the box 1, this fact can bediscovered at any time through the agency of the push button 32 and theelectric light 34, while at the same time, only a small amount of energyis required to indicate this fact, as the electric light 3a only burnsfor a moment of time, that is to say, during the momentary operation ofthe push button 32. When the addressee now comes to the letter box 1 toremove his mail, upon opening the door 2 the lever arm 23 is operatedthereby moving the push rod' 22 so as to throw the rocker arm 11 intoits former position in which one end thereof rests upon the stop 17.This breaks the electric circuit at the letter box 1, and upon closingthe door 2, the parts are now in their original position for asubsequent operation of the same by the insertion of mail, etc., in theletter box 1.

WVhile I have above in detail, I wish it to described my invention beunderstood that many changes may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In combination, a mail box having a door for the insertion of mail, adoor for the removal of mail, an electric trolled by the same, means forclosing the circuit at the mail box when the mail insertion door ismoved and breaking it when the mail removal door is moved, comprising aspring-pressed rocker arm directly connected to the two doors.

2. In combination, a mail box having a door for the insertion of mail, adoor for the removal of mail, an electric circuit controlled by thesame, means for closing the circuit at the mail box when the mailinsertion door is moved and breaking it when the mail removal door ismoved, comprising a spring-pressed rocker arm adapted to be moved inopposite directions by the two doors, and a push rod having a lostmotion connection between the rocker arm and the mail removal door.

3. In combination, a mail door for the insertion of mail, a door for theremoval of mail, an electric circuit controlled by the same, means forclosing the circuit at the mail box when the mail insertion door ismoved and breaking it when the mail removal door is moved, comprising aspring-pressed rocker arm adapted to be moved in opposite directions bythe two doors, and a push rod connecting the rocker arm to the mailremoval door by means of a slot located in the rocker arm.

4:. In combination, a mail box having a door for the insertion of mail,a door for the removal of mail, an electric circuit controlled by thesame, means for closing the circuit at the mail box when the mailinsertion door is moved and breaking it when the mail removal door ismoved, comprising a spring-pressed rocker arm adapted to be moved inopposite directions by the two doors, and a push rod connecting the mailinsertion door with the rocker arm.

5. In combination, a mail box having a door for the insertion of mail, adoor for circuit conbox having a the removal of mail, an electriccircuit con- I trolled by the same, means for closing the circuit at themail box when the mail insertion door is moved and breaking it when themail removal door is moved, comprising a spring-pressed rocker armadapted to be moved in opposite directions by the two doors, a push rodconnecting the rocker arm to the mail removal door, and a push rodconnecting the mail insertion door with the rocker arm.

6. In combination, a mail box having a door for the insertion of mail, adoor for the removal of mail, an electric circuit controlled by thesame, means for closing the circuit at the mail box when the mail in-Connecting the mail insertion door with the sertion door is moved andbreaking it when rocker arm. 10 the mail removal door is moved, compris-In testimony that I claim the foregoing I ing a spring-pressed rockerarm adapted to have hereunto set my hand. 5 be moved in oppositedirections by the two ALICE H. EWING.

doors, a push rod connecting the rocker arm Witnesses: to the mailremoval door by means of a slot Mrs. E. L. BEALL, located in the rockerarm, and a push rod Gno. A. COLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

